


Tales of the Traveling Storyteller

by AJAarons97



Category: Doctor Who, Sherlock (TV), Supernatural, The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Lord of the Rings (Movies)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-09
Updated: 2015-05-08
Packaged: 2018-03-29 16:19:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3902776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AJAarons97/pseuds/AJAarons97
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Theresa "Tessie" Scamporino is a woman who has always been known by her friends and family for having a wonderful imagination.  Now that she's an adult, she's putting that imagination to use by traveling the world and entertaining the masses in the most random and hilarious way she can think of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tales of the Traveling Storyteller

**Author's Note:**

> If you value the device or computer you are using, do not attempt to drink and read at the same time. You may possibly end up spitting it all over the place...

It was early evening on a typically hot, August-in-Virginia day; yet the slowly setting sun did little to cool the balcony as eighteen-year-old Tessie waited for the rest of her group to finish getting ready. The “kids” were all in their swimwear already; kids being the disliked term seeing as two of the three “kids” were eighteen. Tessie didn't mind much, she was still very much a child in many ways and she knew it. It was Beth, her best friend, who’s family she was vacationing with, who minded. Beth would be nineteen in two months and thought herself to be very much a grown up; though Tessie believed Beth was even more a child than she was in some ways. Seven-year-old Kevin, the third in the group deemed to be children, was having a fit. He was Beth’s cousin, and though Tessie loved spending time with the little boy, his fits had begun to annoy even her. That’s why she’d escaped to the balcony in an attempt to get some fresh air and block out the commotion by gazing at the world around her. This was her second trip to Virginia, the first time also being with Beth’s family, and though she was in the same hotel and saw the same things as she did two years ago, she was still able to see at as a whole new, alien world waiting to be explored. She noticed an old man standing on the balcony of the building directly across from her and waved cheerfully. He seemed to take a thoughtful puff of his cigarette, possibly trying to decide if her wave was sincere, then waved back.  
“Kevin, we’re leaving in less than ten minutes! There’s no point putting a movie in now!” Tessie heard Aunt Julia saying as the boy whined.  
“But I’m bored! You’re taking foreeever!” Kevin complained.  
“You don’t need a movie for entertainment,” Tessie says, coming into the room and closing the balcony door before looking to him. “We can go outside and play while we wait for the adults to be ready.”  
“That’s a great idea,” Uncle Pete says, ruffling Kevin’s hair. Kevin swats his hand away and pouts at Tessie.  
“What can we do outside?” he asks grumpily.  
“Well, not much that we couldn't do inside, but that’s still quite a lot if you think about it,” she says thoughtfully. She grins then, and grabs his hand. “Beth! I’m taking Kevin outside and around the back to the grass!” she calls, then races off; half dragging Kevin behind her.  
“What are we doing?” he asks, once they finally get to the spot Tessie intended to bring him to. She had collapsed on the ground and was pretending to be catching her breath, even though she wasn't winded at all.  
“We’re going to play,” she tells him, sitting up.  
“With what?” he asks skeptically.  
“With our minds, silly. I used to spend hours outside pretending to be all sorts of things.”  
“Sounds boring,” he sighs.  
“Boring?! Have you never used your imagination?”  
“I don’t think so.” That gives her pause.  
“Has anyone ever asked you what you want to be when you grow up?” she asks, finally.  
“Yes.” He sits down in front of her.  
“What did you say?”  
“A firefighter.”  
“Why?”  
“Because I want to save people.”  
“Why?”  
“Because I think that would be a good thing to do?”  
“Do you ever think about what it would be like to be a fireman? Do you ever picture yourself climbing up a ladder to help someone climb out the window of a burning building? Or holding a hose as you try and tame a wildfire?”  
“Sometimes.”  
“Then you’ve used your imagination. You can pretend you’re a fireman right now if you want to. Or you could be a knight, or a prince, or a wizard. You could be a superhero, or a villain. A pirate, or a cowboy. You can be just about anything right here, right now, if you use your imagination.”  
“How?” he whines.  
“First of all, don’t whine. Whoever it is you want to be, I’m pretty sure they don’t whine. Unless you want to be a baby, which isn't very fun. I've pretended I was a baby before and got bored with it really quickly.”  
“What on Earth are you talking about?” Beth asks, walking over to them with her two-year-old sister, Rose, in her arms.  
“Quick! You’re Prince Kevin the Brave. I’m a wicked witch who you've been hunting for years.” Tessie jumps up and grabs Rose from Beth. She puts on a ridiculously fake voice, trying to sound like a witch, and say “and I've just kidnapped Princess Rose the Youthful.”  
“No!” Kevin cries, as Tessie runs away from him. He jumps up and gives chase. She stays out of his reach for about two minutes, then purposely kicks a stick as she passes it. Sure enough, Kevin grabs it. She slows down just enough for him to catch her and he prods her in the back with the stick.  
“Oh no! I've been pierced by the Sacred Stick! I have been sliaaaaaaaan!” Tessie wails, slowly collapsing to the ground, careful not to crush Rose, who has been giggling happily since Tessie took her.  
“The Princess is saved!” Kevin shouts, taking Rose’s hand and guiding her away from Tessie, who is lying face down on the ground. She hears a round of applause and realizes the “adults’ must have come out and caught the end of their little game. Still, she doesn’t move. She waits to see if anyone will continue the game. Instead, she lies there quite a while until she gets the odd sense that they left her. She still doesn’t move to check, though. There are suddenly feet racing towards her and she’s being rolled onto her back…by a stranger.  
“Are you okay?” the older man asks upon seeing her eyes open.  
“Will you continue the story?” she asks him in a whisper as she notices the rest of his family, a wife and three kids, come up behind him.  
“Story? What story?” he asks, confused.  
“Any story. Whatever story you want.” She looks to the second oldest child, a boy of about ten, and smiles. “I’m playing pretend.”  
“What story were you playing?” the youngest, a little girl who can’t be older than five, asks.  
“I was a wicked witch who kidnapped Princess Rose the Youthful until her elder cousin, Prince Kevin the Brave, pierced me with the Sacred Stick. After celebrating briefly with the rest of the royal family, they wandered away to the pool and left me for dead,” she explains. The elder son, who was probably around her age, scoffs lightly while the parents chuckle.  
“What if you weren't slain?” the father suggests. “What if the Sacred Stick freed you from a curse and you transformed into the beautiful princess you used to be?”  
“And you’re under a sleeping spell now!” the younger boy adds.  
“She needs to be woken by a kiss!” the girl cries. “Nick! You have to kiss her!”  
“What?!” the older boy, Nick, cries.  
“You have to! The princess must be freed entirely!” the younger boy insists. Tessie had already closed her eyes and was pretending to be in a deep sleep.  
“Go on, Nick. Wake the princess from her slumber,” the mother urges. Tessie senses someone kneeling down next to her. A shadow falls over her face as someone leans close. She holds her breath; she’d never been kissed before. At the last second, Nick finds an alternative and kisses her gently on the cheek. She snaps her eyes open and sits up with a gasp, after making sure she wasn't going to bang foreheads with Nick. She looks around wildly for a moment, then lets her eyes fall on Nick.  
“You! You woke me from the enchantment!” she says, using her most delicate princess voice. She’d perfected it long ago so it didn't sound fake in the slightest. “How ever can I repay you?” She slowly rises to her feet, as if unsure they’ll hold her. He jumps up and offers her assistance, which she accepts.  
“By telling me your name, fair maiden,” Nick says haltingly after a moment.  
“My name? I am Princess Theresa of the neighboring kingdom Gilgamesh. It was a fair and honorable kingdom when my father ruled it centuries ago. But since I was cursed and disappeared, I fear it has become a dark and disrespectful place,” she shudders dramatically. “And who are you?! Surely you must be a man of nobility! Yet I am unfamiliar with you as of yet.”  
“We are but lowly commoners, farmers, your highness,” the mother says, curtsying.  
“I am Joseph, this is my wife Celine, and my children Nick, Henry, and Danielle,” the father informs her.  
“Farmers or no, you have saved me and I am very pleased to make your acquaintance. Prince Kevin may have freed me from one curse, but he left me to waste away under another. I would go to him now, but he is young and may not understand. I am unsure what I should do next,” she sighs.  
“If your kingdom was once good but has become dark in your absence, then you should return there now and bring it to the light once more,” Celine tells her.  
“You’re right. That is what I shall do. I best be off now, though, if I want to make it to the woods before dark tomorrow. Dangerous things lie in those woods.”  
“Like what?” little Danielle asks.  
“Well, there are witches and wolves, bandits and bears, vagabonds and vultures, criminals, and even,” she gulps and whispers lowly “cows…”  
“Cows? What do you mean cows?” Henry asks, giggling.  
“Laugh now while you can, Master Henry. The cows on your farm me be tame and harmless. But out in the wilderness they are bloodthirsty man-eaters!”  
“If the woods are so dangerous, you should not go alone,” Nick says.  
“Do not worry, there are safe roads that can be taken,” she assures him.  
“Still, I have saved your life once and I intend to see to it that your life stays saved. I shall escort you to your past home.” He bows lowly to her.  
“We’ll come too!” Danielle cries.  
“We may be young and small, but we’re brave! We’re not afraid of anything!” Henry agrees.  
“Not even cows?” Tessie gasps.  
“I don’t believe this silly story of man-eating cows,” Nick scoffs.  
“You say that now, Master Nick,” she shoots Joseph a look and he frowns, but she hopes he’ll understand. “But you’ll believe differently when you realize… A WILD COW HAS FOUND ITS WAY INTO THE VILLAGE AND IS CHARGING US RIGHT NOW!!!” she cries, turning to face Joseph. He quickly drops to all fours and lowers his head.  
“Mooooo!!” he roars, charging at them. They all scream and Tessie goes so far as to jump into Nick’s arms. He catches her without hesitation, then they all burst out laughing.  
“That was brilliant!” Tessie exclaims, once she finally regains her feet.  
“That was a lot of fun,” Danielle agrees.  
“You have one heck of an imagination Theresa,” Joseph chuckles.  
“Please, call me Tessie, everyone does,” she grins. “I’m a writer, I’m required to have an overactive imagination.”  
“Where are you from, Tessie?” Nick asks.  
“New Jersey, I’m here with my friend’s family,” she explains.  
“We’re from Arizona,” Henry tells her.  
“Arizona is beautiful, my parents met there,” she smiles.  
“Would you mind if we walked to the pool with you? You said that’s where your friends were going, right?” Celine asks.  
“Not at all.”


End file.
